News – Scholaris
Gabriela Mircea
Visiting Program Officer
Metadata Strategies and Scholaris
Scholaris is a national shared repository service that provides hosted infrastructure and support for Canadian institutional repositories. The service is managed by Scholars Portal and developed by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), University of Toronto Libraries (UTL), regional consortia, expert groups and members of the Canadian institutional repository community.
Institutional repositories and repository managers play a vital role in the academic research environment by advancing scholarship and fostering open access to research. As a national shared repository service, Scholaris facilitates knowledge sharing, fosters collaboration, and increases the discoverability and impact of Canadian research excellence. Scholaris empowers repository teams, library staff, and institutions by providing scalable infrastructure, technical expertise, and community support.
Using open-source repository software (DSpace), Scholaris is hosted and managed by Scholars Portal. Participating institutions benefit from both local and national service models: an institutionally branded repository instance with centrally managed hosting and upgrades, shared resources, and access to a vibrant network of repository managers, technical experts, and practitioners across the country.
For more information, including developing partners, pricing, FAQs, and participating institutions, visit the Scholaris website.
Early Adopter Program
Scholaris launched an Early Adopter program to develop the service. The program involves multiple cohort stages from 2024 to 2026, and is open to consortial member institutions and eligible non-member research organizations across Canada. At the midway point of the program, there are 22 participating institutions in phased migrations. If your institution is interested in participating, please complete the expression of interest form. If you would like to discuss participation before formally submitting this form, please reach out to the Scholaris team by emailing .
Expert Groups
Three Expert Groups were formed to help shape the national infrastructure service and to lend their expertise and support to fundamental segments of the project. They operate under the aegis of CARL’s Shared Repositories Infrastructure Advisory Committee (SRIAC) and engage in close collaboration with the Visiting Program Officer (VPO) – Metadata Strategies and Scholaris, who liaises with the Scholars Portal team and SRIAC to assess priorities based on input from experts.
S-MDEG identifies common use cases and practical strategies for metadata migration, creation, updating, and support. They collaborate with the service development team to prioritize metadata requirements, advise on policy, propose scalable solutions, and monitor emerging technologies for potential integration into the Scholaris service. See their Terms of Reference.
To ensure a smooth and successful transition, the S-ETEG develops strategies for consistent data across repositories, guides institutions towards national and international standards, and offers expertise in migrating ETDs seamlessly. Additionally, they propose optimizations for Scholaris and guide institutions in adapting their workflows. See their Terms of Reference.
S-DPEG provides guidance, recommendations, and advice on digital preservation planning requirements and pathways for the Scholaris service development team. S-DPEG is instrumental in charting a path to shared, common, and otherwise operationalized digital preservation practices that support the long-term accessibility and integrity of digital materials managed within the Scholaris service. See their Terms of Reference.
Scholaris Network of Experts Reports
The three Scholaris Expert Groups have developed a set of recommendations that provide practical guidance on metadata management in DSpace, multilingual practices, persistent identifiers, and electronic theses and dissertations. Designed to support local implementations and promote alignment across institutions, these resources serve the broader repository community beyond Scholaris participants. You can consult this set of reports via the University of Toronto T-Space Repository.
-> View the Scholaris Network of Experts Reports (via TSpace)